8vo. xiv, 328 pp of German text, 7 pp of Arabic text (summary), publisher’s original wrappers, UNOPENED, biblio, index, copy clean & in very good condition, Beiruter Texte Und Studien, Band 32, Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden & Beirut, 1984.

Synopsis

This study of four parts is a commentary of Damm al-Hawa or Censure of passion, by the Baghdad polygraph and preacher Abu l-Farag Ibn al-Gauzi which is a compilation of pious traditions, ethical doctrines and thoughts, theoretical explanations of love and love stories. Contradictions between Ibn al-Gauzi’s teachings and his sympathetic discussion of passionate love frequently reappear in the Damm al-Hawa and are included in this study. The first chapter presents an introduction to the life and work of al-Gauzi while the second chapter is concerned with the numerous love stories in Damm al-Hawa which are different from the moral discussion in style, length and content. A continuous thread throughout the love stories is a description of the lovers’ suffering and their death from love. In the third part, al Gauzi is seen to take the view that impure desire and unhappy love are avoidable and curable afflictions. He argues for the futility and evil of love through his own psychological analysis. The last part is concerned with the incompatibility of love and conjugal relations.